The Fashion Awards 2026: Nominees, Royal Albert Hall and the Night Itself

The Fashion Awards 2026 take place at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Monday 30 November 2026, and every winner is revealed on the night. The British Fashion Council runs the ceremony and calls it "the world's biggest fashion fundraiser", with the evening supporting the BFC Foundation's work with designers and students.

One change stands out on this year's shortlist. The designer who has won Designer of the Year three years running is not on it.

Jonathan Anderson took the top prize again at the 2025 ceremony, his third win in a row. The 2026 Designer of the Year shortlist, published on 16 September 2026, does not include him, so his run ends at three and the award goes to a different designer this time.

The 2026 shortlist

Designer of the Year, for the British or international designer with the biggest global impact this year, is a heavyweight line-up: Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent, Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen for The Row, Haider Ackermann for Tom Ford, Matthieu Blazy for Chanel, Michael Rider for Celine and Sarah Burton for Givenchy.

British Womenswear Designer of the Year has Clare Waight Keller (Uniqlo), Erdem Moralıoğlu (Erdem), Louise Trotter (Bottega Veneta), Sarah Burton (Givenchy) and Simone Rocha. British Menswear Designer of the Year has Foday Dumbuya (Labrum), Kiko Kostadinov, Nick Wakeman (Studio Nicholson), Simon Holloway (Dunhill) and Simone Rocha again. The Vanguard award, for designers shaping where British fashion goes next, is between Conner Ives, Ellie Misner, Steve O Smith and Tolu Coker.

Burton and Rocha are the only names in two categories each. Rocha is the only designer shortlisted for both womenswear and menswear. Burton is in the top category as well as womenswear, and she won one of the two British designer awards last year. Neither result can be called with confidence, because the votes are confidential until the night.

How the winners are chosen

Two separate groups are involved. A jury of 18 critics, editors and retail figures chose the shortlist, and the names on it carry weight: Sarah Mower of Vogue Runway, Kenya Hunt of ELLE UK, Teo van den Broeke of Esquire UK, senior figures from Selfridges, Harrods and Liberty, and the BFC's own chief executive, Laura Weir. A wider Voting Committee of industry figures then casts confidential votes to decide each winner.

The results are kept confidential until each winner is announced at the Hall, so the nominees, the jury and the audience all hear the outcome at the same moment.

The honours already confirmed

Sandra Choi, creative director of Jimmy Choo, will receive a Special Recognition Award. She joined the label in 1996 and has been with it for around three decades. "Sandra Choi is one of fashion's most respected creative leaders," Laura Weir said when the award was announced. Choi kept her reply short: "I am truly honoured to receive this recognition from the British Fashion Council."

The BFC has also named its New Wave: Creatives list, 50 emerging talents who work behind the clothes rather than in them. The disciplines run across photography, styling, casting, art direction, hair and make-up, set design, beauty commentary and show production. Previous cohort members nominated the candidates, and a panel including Simone Rocha, Tolu Coker, Ib Kamara, Aidan Zamiri and Steff Yotka chose the final names. "It's a real privilege to bring this community into the spotlight at The Fashion Awards," Weir said of the list. For guests who work with creative talent, the list is a useful guide to emerging names across those disciplines.

The Fashion Awards 2025

The Fashion Awards 2025 took place at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday 1 December 2025, hosted by Colman Domingo. Raye, Tems and English National Ballet performed, and 15 awards were handed out. Anderson won Designer of the Year for the third year running, Anok Yai was Model of the Year, Dilara Fındıkoğlu took the Vanguard award, and Sarah Burton and Grace Wales Bonner won the two British designer awards.

Based on that format, the 2026 evening is likely to follow a similar shape: red-carpet arrivals, a stage show with live music, and a sequence of awards through the night. The 2026 host and performers had not been announced by 22 October 2026, and more categories and special honours are likely to follow. The BFC's presenting partner for 2026 is Pandora.

The Royal Albert Hall on an awards night

The Hall is on Kensington Gore, SW7, a short walk from South Kensington station, and it has been a concert venue since 1871. Its oval shape is what makes it work for a ceremony: the stage is visible from almost everywhere, and the tiers of boxes wrap all the way round.

Seats in the Grand Tier, Second Tier and Loggia are all in private boxes, and the Hall delivers food and drink straight to them. The building also has three restaurants (The Elgar Room by Kerth Gumbs, Coda Restaurant by Éric Chavot and Verdi Italian Kitchen) and bars including the Moët and Chandon Champagne Bar and the 1871 Bar.

For the 2026 Fashion Awards, hospitality takes three forms: Tables, Club and Boxes, all of which include red-carpet access. The difference between them is mainly where guests spend the evening. A box gives a group a fixed space for the whole night, a clear view of the stage and somewhere to talk between awards. A table sits closer to the floor and the cameras, nearer the centre of the ceremony. Club sits between the two. In each case, the red carpet comes before the ceremony, so guests who want to see the arrivals need to be in the building early.

Our Royal Albert Hall venue guide has more on the building itself. If you would like to hear more about the evening, you can register your interest with our team.

More from the fashion calendar

The Fashion Awards close a year that starts with the shows. Our fashion section covers the wider calendar, including London Fashion Week and other fashion week events. For past editions and other ceremonies, see our fashion awards hub.

Photo credits: Royal Albert Hall exterior by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0. View from a Grand Tier box by Colin, CC BY-SA 4.0. Royal Albert Hall interior by Ted Potters, Public domain. Royal Albert Hall from the Albert Memorial by Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0. Portrait photo: Royal Albert Hall by Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0.